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Bug Squad

Bug Squad blog image depicts a honey bee sting in action.

Welcome to the Bug Squad blog! The Bug Squad blog was launched Aug. 6, 2008 and is a daily blog (Monday through Friday). It showcases entomologists and the work they do.  The blog focuses on scientists in the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, the Bohart Museum of Entomology, Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, the UC Davis Bee Haven, and assorted campuswide events, including UC Davis Picnic Day, UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day, and Bohart Museum open houses. The blog spotlights insects, including bees, butterflies, dragonflies, and praying mantises, as well as arachnids such as jumping spiders and crab spiders. Author and photographer is Kathy Keatley Garvey, communications specialist, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and a longtime journalist and community scientist with two degrees from Washington State University.  She is a member of the Entomological Society of America (ESA) and the Association for Communication Excellence (ACE). Her blog posts and images have won international awards from ACE and ESA and appeared on journal and magazine covers. She shoots primarily with a Nikon Z-8 mirrorless camera, a Nikon D500 and Nikon 800, with assorted macro lenses. Feedspot lists it as one of the top entomology blogs on the Internet. 

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A feral honey bee colony (now gone) from a backyard in Vacavile, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

It's Bee-ginning to Look a Lot Like...

December 25, 2023
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's bee-ginning to look a lot like Christmas... All hail our littlest agricultural worker. European colonists brought the honey bee (Apis mellifera) to what is now the United States in 1622. Specifically, the bees arrived at the Jamestown colony (Virginia).
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A golden honey bee, a Cordovan, nectaring in a Vacaville, Calif., garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Revisiting 'The 13 Bugs of Christmas'

December 22, 2023
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Back in 2010, UC Cooperative Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen (1944-2022) of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and yours truly, department communications specialist, wondered why no insects appear in "The Twelve Days of Christmas." Zero. Zilch. Nada.
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A monarch caterpillar munching on milkweed in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

'Most Delicious Poison': A Must-Read Book

December 21, 2023
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
A deadly secret lurks within our spice racks, medicine cabinets, backyard gardens, and private stashes, writes evolutionary biologist Noah Whiteman, author of the newly published book, Most Delicious Poison: the Story of Nature's Toxinsfrom Spices to Vices (Little, Brown Spark).
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